S a l e t é I I

XVIII - Pieds - Neuf

"That's wonderful!"

"I know! They were both pretty nice people, but the guy was really great. What was his name again?"

"Gaspard."

"Yeah, that's him. Cassia literally gave him a big hug afterwards."

Cassia and Uliana had been relaying the results of their trip to the old street that day to Klavdiya and Zisel, the four of them now huddled in the backroom as the girls who'd not been in attendance listened to the news. Zisel had been sat at her desk, where she'd naturally been working in their absence, and now she'd turned in her chair to face the others who were sat on the old sofa. Klavdiya had been laying down until they'd gotten back, at which stage she'd moved to one end, allowing Cassia to sit next to her whilst Uliana perched on one of the sofa's arms. Polina was also present, still atop Zisel's desk, allowing her to observe all of the proceedings.

The rest of the trip itself had gone well, and Monet had secured a handful of things through her own efforts, whilst Uliana had been able to get her hands on a bottle of Honey or two before they'd returned to the warehouse. It wasn't the largest haul they'd acquired by any means, but they still had a comfortable number of things in the storeroom already, and the news pertaining to Cassia's success with her letters had served to lift everyone's spirits just as much as any other successful run, much to her continued delight.

She'd not expected everyone to be so invested, and they really, really were very kind.

"All you have to do now is wait, basically?" Klavdiya asked, to which Cassia gave a confirmatory nod.

"Yeah, there's nothing else I can do, I don't think. I already said it to Monet, but now that it's all sorted, I can focus entirely on helping all of you." She replied, giving them all a particularly rosy look, Zisel appearing delighted to hear such a sentiment.

"That's really sweet of you, Cassie."

"Yeah. You don't have to spend all your energy on us." Klavdiya said.

"I'm going to! It's the least I can do, after everything you've done for me." Cassia replied, her voice firm again, and she looked at Klavdiya with a gaze that implied she'd said something foolish, such a look only making the girl grin.

"We're a team! And that includes Taya and Monet, even if Taya spends all day with her head in the clouds, and even if Monet insists on trying to be a loner in her spare time." Uliana announced, pride in her demeanour, earning laughter from both Zisel and Klavdiya, whilst Cassia smiled.

"Where is Monet, anyway? Is she already back in her room?" Klavdiya asked after concluding her chuckle.

"Uh, I don't know. She said she'd sort the storeroom out by herself so that we could come and talk to you two." Uliana replied. Before she could say anything else, Cassia rose to her feet.

"I'll go see."

"Tell her to come and sit with us for a bit!" Klavdiya told her as she went, and it was an idea that Uliana agreed with.

"Yeah, and don't take no for an answer! Be bossy!"

Be bossy? To Monet? Cassia was familiar with the idea of a so called "death stare" but such a suggestion might have genuinely earned a stare from the girl in red capable of inducing actual death.

As she stepped out into the main room of the warehouse, the door to the backroom letting out a metallic squeak as she opened it, she soon spotted that the storeroom door was indeed still open. She made her way over, hoping to catch Monet inside, the older girl stepping out by the time she was halfway there, closing and locking the entrance to the room behind her.